


Driving Me Up The Wall

by TehrBear



Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction, Sports RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-20 23:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2447261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TehrBear/pseuds/TehrBear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco and Mario haven't spoken in a really long time. Their close friendship as children doesn't follow them into adolescence or adulthood.<br/>So what happens when Marco gets himself into a rut and the only one around to help is a very amused Mario?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Driving Me Up The Wall

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I have ever posted my writing anywhere so feedback would be much appreciated!
> 
> This has not been beta'd so all mistakes are my own. If you find any grammar/spelling mistakes please do tell me.
> 
> I do not own Marco or Mario as they are real people but I own all other elements of the story which is all fictional and not to be taken seriously at all.

As the day progressed at a remarkably lazy speed, several things crossed Marco's mind. The most prominent was his sudden fear of heights. _More like the fear of falling_ , he corrected himself blandly. The second was every horror movie he’d ever seen that was set in the woods. The third thought was more of a promise to himself. That he would never help another living creature ever again. He couldn’t understand why he had thought it had been such a good idea in the first place.

The nest had fallen right in front of his eyes. A particularly strong gust of wind had knocked it down and this presented quite a dilemma for Marco. The chirping of the tiny brown balls of fuzz at his feet exposed such sympathy from his heart, leaving him feeling guilty for the first thing that had come into his head; which was ignore the birds and let nature take its course. The same chirping, now above him was driving him nuts. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking this through at all, but didn’t, in fear of falling off the branch he was awkwardly perched on.

The tree he was stuck in wasn’t the tallest around but from the height he was at, jumping was not an option. He couldn’t risk any injuries. There were no campsites around and his cabin, at the least, a two kilometer walk away. Of course his precious little family cabin also just happened to be so out of the way that he had no signal on his phone either. So he waited, for who or what he didn’t know. Mostly the courage to try and swing over to another branch or another tree but every time he tried to move, the fear of falling would grip him again. _I just_ had _to find a perfect spot for the stupid nest didn’t I._ The negative thoughts weren’t helping his situation. He was panicked enough.

He felt his legs tremble; he desperately wanted to take his weight off them. _Maybe if I just change my position_ , he thought. _Maybe if I can get a little comfortable I’ll be able to think straight_. He tried to shift all his weight onto one leg so he could swing the other over the branch and felt himself slipping. Suddenly, his feet were no longer on the branch. He let out a strangled cry and shut his eyes, blindly grasping the branch. He heard something beneath him but forgot about it instantly as he was too busy being overly dramatic and thinking about who would miss him when he died. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. He ended up with one leg on either side of the branch, leaning forward, hugging the wood with all his might. When he opened his eyes, he caught a glimpse of his left foot. He was missing his shoe. Once again, he heard something.

“Why would you do that?” A voice, clearly annoyed, addressed him. Marco could just make out a face through the leaves, youthful, and almost childish but at the same time clearly belonging to a man, glaring up at him. The man held his shoe in one hand and a water bottle in the other. He was in athletic gear, shorts despite the chill that had set in since Marco had initially set out, and had his earphones hanging around his neck. Marco couldn't comprehend what he was saying. His heart was still beating loudly in his ears and he was sure that he looked a pathetic mess clutching the branch the way he was.

“What?” He managed to ask.

“Why the hell did you throw your shoe at me?” The man asked. There was something about his face, those childish features, that greatly unsettled Marco.

“I did not _throw_ my shoe at you,” Marco snapped, coming out of his fear fueled trance.

“Well your shoe hit me,” the man said. He was beginning to look more amused than annoyed now, no doubt catching onto the situation Marco had got himself into. “Are you stuck?”

“No! Of course not!” _Dammit Marco he can help you get down. What the fuck are you doing?_ Marco ignored his conscience as the man was now clearly gaining amusement at his expense. “What would make you think that I'm stuck?”

“Oh I don't know,” the man threw Marco's shoe up in the air and then caught it. “Maybe it's the broken branch right underneath you. Or the way you're holding onto that branch for your life.”

All at once, Marco realized why this man’s face was troubling him so much. Marco knew him. It had been almost fifteen years since they had last talked but it was unmistakable. Mario hadn’t changed at all. This was the same Mario with the same chubby cheeks and the same impressive eyebrows and the innocent yet playful smile. The same smile he was giving Marco now. The recognition hit Marco so hard that it was unbelievable to him how long it took him to realize it. Did Mario recognize him too? He couldn’t tell. Marco pushed himself into a sitting position abruptly and immediately regretted it as the branch creaked under him. _Fuck._

“Careful there,” Mario called to him. “It looks like it would be a nasty fall.”

 _No shit_ , Marco thought. Normally, he would have even said it out loud but he had no idea what Mario might do. He didn’t want to piss off his potential knight in a muscle tee and end up being left in a tree with only one shoe. So instead he tried to explain his predicament. He told Mario about the birds nest and how shit went wrong after the rescue when he’d tried to step back onto the branch directly underneath him.

“It seemed sturdy enough on the way up. It broke off when I was coming back down.” Mario was leaning against the tree now—still holding the shoe and the bottle—and couldn’t seem to stop smiling at Marco. Right at the start, Mario had looked down at his feet and shook his head, muttering something along the lines of “of course it was baby birds” but Marco couldn’t be too sure from so high up.

“Why didn’t you try moving over to that branch over there and coming around to the other side of the tree? It’s not that far, you’d just have to move a bit forward.” Marco shifted a little, only a little since he was still sure he’d fall, and the branch he was on groaned loudly. The sound echoed through the strangely quiet forest, save for those pesky birds Marco saved. Mario was no longer smiling. “Oh. Never mind.”

“Yeah.” Neither of them spoke for the next few moments. Once again Marco wondered whether Mario recognized him. If he did, why hadn’t he said anything? Then again, Marco hadn’t mentioned it either.

“Wait, what if I come up there?” Mario suggested.

“I don't think two people stuck in a tree is the solution.”

“No silly,” Mario laughed. He put down his water bottle and Marco's shoe so he could gesture properly with his hands. “The lower branches are a hell of a lot thicker than the one that you're on.”

He took his phone out of his pocket and began wrapping his earphones around it and setting it down too before continuing. “If I get onto the one below you—”

“It's still too far.” Marco said. A look of annoyance crossed over Mario's expression.

“Just listen,” he demanded. “If you hang off from the one you're on. I can help you lower yourself and it'll be a piece of cake from there.”

Mario started climbing, clearly confident with his plan. Marco had his doubts. He’d already moved around so much, what if the next movement was the one that would bring this all to a gruesome end. With the way the situation was set up at the moment, he, and the branch, would land straight on Mario’s head. “I don’t know Ma—”

He stopped himself just in time. His saviour didn’t seem to notice anything wrong and continued a slow progression towards Marco.

“I don’t think I can move,” Marco said once Mario was directly below him.

“You’ll be fine. That branch can take a bit more abuse. Don’t be afraid.”

“I am _not_ afraid.” He was definitely afraid. The look on Mario’s face seemed to reassure him a bit. It wasn’t a pitying look. More like one that said that if Mario was in the same situation, he’d be panicked too. What was the word? Empathetic. That’s right, Mario looked empathetic. Marco sighed and waited for Mario to speak.

“Okay so all you have to do is swing your leg over so you can lower yourself onto my shoulders.”

“ _What?!_ ” Marco exclaimed.

“What?” Mario questioned. He looked incredibly confused and obviously thought his plan was completely foolproof.

“We’re both going to fall and injure ourselves and _die_.” Mario rolled his eyes and, ignoring Marco’s alarm, continued.

“Listen, I’ll be holding myself steady with this arm and I’ll grab you with the other and then the second you let go of your branch, go straight for that one.” He motioned towards the branch in question with a nod of his head. Marco followed the gesture and had to admit, it seemed pretty possible. As long as he was careful when getting onto Mario’s shoulders and Mario kept a strong and steady grip on the tree and him, this could be over in less than a minute.

“Stop overthinking it. You’re going to freak yourself out.” This time, instead of arguing, Marco began to gently move his legs into position. The branch groaned in protest but did not give any sign of snapping just yet, so Marco continued and soon enough he was hanging by his arms and lowering himself down. His knees were now over Mario’s shoulders but he was still too far up to reach. The anxiety was making a comeback. Marco looked down at a crouching Mario who had a tight grip on his calf.

“You’re too far down.” He felt Mario stand slightly until Marco's thighs were barely resting on his shoulders.

“It’s okay. You can let go now.” Marco's arms were incredibly tired.

“What if we fall?”

“We won’t. Just trust me Marco.” _Did he just call me Marco?_ Now _that_ was a surprise. Mario’s grip on Marco's leg tightened significantly and Marco let go of the branch, almost crashing down onto Mario’s shoulders. Thankfully, Mario expected it (despite his little slip up) and, while keeping a tight grip on the blond and the tree, he crouched back down right away to maintain balance, giving Marco, who was leaning a bit too forward, the chance to grab the branch that would be his saving grace. Mario bent down, crouching even lower, allowing Marco to slip off his shoulders. Marco, with his back to Mario, allowed himself to grin widely. Mario _did_ recognize him and that made him incredibly happy. Happier than finally being free did. When they were both safely on the ground, Marco turned to Mario, with the smile still on his face, a smile that almost faltered when he noticed that Mario was not smiling and looking at the ground in an attempt to avoid the no longer damsel in distress’ eyes. Marco picked up his shoe and went to put it on.

“Thanks Mario.” That definitely caught the shorter man’s attention. He looked up and met Marco’s gaze.

“You remember me?” Mario asked

“Of course,” Marco said, his smile growing wider. “My memory was triggered by the fact that you haven't changed at all.”

“Well, I've grown taller!” Mario defended himself, only half joking.

“Since you were eight? Yeah I'd have expected that. You're still not as tall as me Sunny.” Using the old nickname so casually made Marco feel like he'd just tripped over thin air but it only made Mario smile brightly.

“So are you up here all alone?”

“Yeah, I drove up yesterday. Thought I'd take a few days away from the city life to relax.”

“Hasn't been too relaxing so far has it?” Mario asked, laughing. He'd picked up his belongings and the two of them were walking on the worn path. Marco soon recognized this as the way to Mario’s cabin.

“What about you?”

“It's one of the rare occasions the Götze family is all together.” Their hands brushed together lightly as they walked side by side on the narrow path. “Mom thought we didn't spend enough time together so she had Dad drag us all out here.”

“Oh,” Marco said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Mario sensed his discomfort and stopped walking. Marco stopped too. He gestured back the way they came. “Maybe I should head back then. I've taken up enough of your family time with my dilemma.”

“Absolutely not!” Mario cried, grabbing Marco's hand as he turned. Then all of a sudden, he dropped it, as well as his gaze, but continued with his argument. “Do you know how upset my parents would be if they found out you were this close but didn't come to say hello.”

“Mar—”

“Felix might not remember you but Fabian definitely will!”

“Mario.”

“Besides if it wasn't for them, I would never have found you. You'd still be up in that tree.”

“Mario, that doesn't make sense.”

“I was out jogging because all the bonding time was driving me up the wall.”

“Oh, okay.” Neither of them had moved yet, but a smile slowly crept onto Mario’s face.

“You could even say it was driving me up,” he paused. “The _tree_.”

“I'm out.” The stupid grin on Mario's face, clearly proud of the ridiculously lame pun, made his heart jump out of his chest. He felt beads of sweat forming on his brow and upper lip. He turned and wiped at them as he started walking away, now with no intention of actually leaving. 

“Marco! I'm sorry! I won’t make any more stupid puns. I promise” He grabbed Marco's arm this time but then slid his hand down until he was gently clutching onto Marco's fingers. He didn't pull away this time and seemed to become a little more confident when Marco didn't either. “Come on. Everyone will be happy to see you and I won't die of boredom.”

Marco swears Mario was pouting (no matter how many times Mario denies it later). He was planning on accepting Mario's invitation anyways but he couldn't help but wonder if there was a different reason the man wanted him around. _Wishful thinking_ , he scolded himself, but at the same time he was extremely conscious of how warm Mario's hand felt in his, and the way he squeezed Marco's fingers ever so slightly while waiting for a reply.

“Okay.”


End file.
